Kenny brought his right hand to his chin and closed his eyes as he pondered to himself how he had ended up in his current predicament. He felt his body sway to the left and then to the right while his kept his left foot close to his right that was being held up in the air by three vines that had coiled together and wrapped tightly around his ankle. Apparently, traps were now a thing he needed to be wary of.

Below him were two giant toad creatures that came up to the middle of his chest. Their tongues shot out every half a minute missing him as he swung back and forth. He remembered arriving at this swamp like terrain after stepping through the portal that had captured his full attention and appearing in the sludgy water confused and annoyed at the same time.

The water wasn’t deep, about ankle high, but that wasn’t what bothered him. It was the fact that he now had soaked sludge swamp water filled shoes and wet socks. Something that irritated him so much. He hated having that feeling of wet socks clinging to his feet and the weighed down shoes from water filling them. The other thing that really got on his nerves was he was probably going to hear that annoying squishing sound that wet shoes made when he was finally able to get on dry land.

Kenny let out a sigh as he felt the swamp water running up his leg and back. There was nothing he could do to stop that slimy feeling coursing up his body because he was currently dangling upside down. The loose hair that had fallen out of his short ponytail dangling over his eyes as he swayed. He wanted to fix that because he was getting tired of it brushing against his eyes. This made him decide that his short little break was over.

Kenny lifted his upper body up enough to grab the entangled vines wrapped around his ankle with his left hand. He then took his right and ran the thorns back and forth along one of the thin vines.

He wanted to test the sharpness of the thorns to see if they were strong enough to be used as a make shift saw. If they were strong enough to handle him grazing creature’s flesh and the force he exuded when punching things then they should be strong enough to handle sawing through a vine. That’s what he theorized.

To his satisfaction, he was right. Although it took a little longer than he wanted it to take, he was able to cut one of the vines before getting through the rest. After the last one finally snapped, Kenny felt his legs drop. He made sure to grip the vines he was holding onto with his left hand tight enough so he wouldn’t slip and when he felt he was good, he swung back and forth before releasing his grip and sending himself on top of one of the giant toads waiting for him.

These creatures were called Toxic Swamp Toad. They were level seven and had a Stat Talent in Vitality. True to their name though, these creatures really were toxic. At least, their skin was.

Every time Kenny punched one of them, he received a notification telling him his storage was filling up, one percent each punch. That was the only thing toxic about them though. Whenever their tongues were able to hit him, he never received a notification.

Kenny came down onto the surprised Toxic Swamp Toad with a powerful downward punch after positioning himself on the way down. He could feel the thorns on his hand wraps rake the slimy toxic skin as his punch connected with the creature’s head and slid down the side of it.

As soon as his feet splashed in the water and were able to find ground, he then tried to push himself to jump to the side. The swamp water slowed him down a bit, but he was able to dodge the tongue lashing the other Toxic Swamp Toad threw at him.

Instead of switching to the other creature, Kenny decided to focus on the one before him. The swampy area hindered his movements a bit and didn’t want to waste his stamina trying to dodge both creatures from either lashing their long and whip-like tongues or body slams they often tried to do to him by jumping above his head when he tried to move.

Instead of focusing his agility on his legs, he focused them on his arms. He sent a flurry of punches into the Toxic Swamp Toad’s face and body. He did step to the side trying to circle around the toad so it couldn’t land a hit with its tongue while still attacking it and found this method of attack acceptable.

The only thing he had to watch out for was a flying body slam from the other whenever it got close enough, but it was easy to spot when the other creature tried its luck. The ripples in the swamp water were one of the telling signs since the water would rise higher when pushing against his legs as well as the loud splash that accompanied them whenever the creature jumped.

Whenever the creature did this, Kenny would jump back far enough to dodge the incoming attack and be in perfect range to land a flurry of strike upon it. The only thing he hated whenever the creature did those powerful attacks was the splashes or small waves making the swamp water soak his open skin, pants, or vest. A few times he was caught mouth open and some of the nasty water landed in his mouth. He wanted to throw up each time that happened.

After taking some time finishing the fight against these creatures, Kenny turned to face the area that had caught his attention before getting caught up in that vine trap. It was a piece of dry land slightly hidden inside the trunk of a massive tree.

He slowly made his way to it, scanning the area cautiously making sure it wasn’t another trap. When he didn’t see or sense anything nearby, Kenny stepped into the trunk of the tree and looked around. To his surprise it was a safe area.

He could see signs of people making a small campfire thanks to the small stones that circled around the ashes of used firewood. A small line of clear clean water ran down into a massive bowl that was held up by sturdy thick branches and an area that looked like a bathroom.

At least he believed it was a bathroom due to a toilet and a roll of toilet paper inside the small, secluded area. He wasn’t sure how a toilet was able to be there or how it worked. A thought came to mind as he turned to look at the swamp. He felt his stomach turn a bit as he swiftly shook his head and muttered, “The Tower wouldn’t do that…right?”

 Shifting his thoughts away from the nasty thought, Kenny focused on the small bowl of clean water. He needed to replenish his flask of water and decided to also clean himself up by pouring the contents of the water from his flask over himself to clean the nasty swamp off. He didn’t focus on his shoes or socks since they would just get soaked once more after he left the place.

After cleaning his bare skin from the swamp water, fixed his hair so it wouldn’t fall on his eyes, and drinking a fair share of clean water before refilling his flask, Kenny decided to press on. As much as he was excited to find the trigger to awaken one of his two unawakened Skill Trees, he also wanted to get out of here. The feeling of walking on wet socks and shoes as well as hearing the squish noises they made while on dry land was grating to his ears and skin.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the annoying feeling of wet shoes and socks, Kenny pressed on believing the way he was going was the right one. After fighting off two more Toxic Swamp Toads and a couple of mosquitoes the size of a cat with long barbed needle-like mouths called Barbed Mosquito, Kenny heard a scream.

At first, he thought he was hearing things, but when a second one echoed in the air he didn’t hesitate. He ran towards the sound. He wasn’t sure why someone was screaming, but from the sound of the feminine cry for help, it seemed like they were in trouble. After a few steps he came to a halt.

Something wasn’t right. He hadn’t run into anyone since he had arrived in the Trial Grounds since everyone was far ahead of him. He was only in the third area and from the two-day head start everyone had he believed he wouldn’t, if he did at all, come across anyone until around the end of the fourth area.

So, why was he running to aid someone that shouldn’t be here? He had reacted before thinking and that was something he understood he needed to not do. Was this a trap? The possibility was there since traps were making their presence known in the area. And if it wasn’t then the person shouldn’t be alone. They should have their teammates with them to help them get out of trouble.

Kenny thought about the Toxic Swamp Toads and how they poisoned anyone who touched them. If there were a swarm of them then they could be in trouble as well. Not everyone had a form of defense against poisons like he seemed to have.

A third scream echoed in the air making Kenny hesitate. There were so many things that could go against him if this were a trap of sorts, but at the same time if someone really needed help then him standing here wasting time thinking about it would only lead the one in trouble that much closer to their death.

Kenny swore under his breath as he made his decision. He splashed loudly and as fast as he could not caring if any monsters around the area could hear him. After a minute of sloshing through the water and weaving through the trees he came to a clearing where he saw two Toxic Swamp Toads jumping around or lashing out their tongues into the air as a Barbed Mosquito dove in and out at a girl who was dangling high up in the air swaying left and right. One hand was holding up her skirt while her other was waving a stick around shooting out blasts of magic at the flying creature before trying to hit the toads down below.

Kenny didn’t get any other features of the girl as his eyes scanned the area for her possible teammates. To his shock there weren’t any. There were no signs there was anyone else around but the two of them. While this did make him feel wary, he decided not to waste any more time.

“Focus on the mosquito and I’ll take care of the toads down here!” Kenny shouted, announcing his presence to the frantic girl and the creatures in the immediate area.

“Wha…Who the hell are you?!” the girl shouted in confusion. Even though she was confused, she still had a hint of caution and wariness to her question.

“Doesn’t matter right now does it?” Kenny shot back as he jumped out of the way of an incoming body slam from the closest toad. As soon as it landed, he unleashed a flurry of strikes.

“Don’t attack the toads with your hands! They will poison you! Are you an idiot or something?! Use a damn weapon!” the girl yelled as she witnessed Kenny launch punch after punch on the toad’s body and face before turning her attention onto the Barbed Mosquito.

“Don’t have one besides my fists. I’ll be fine. You focus on the buzzing pest closer to you!” Kenny shouted as he dodged another incoming body slam before launching another round of punches.

“Fine! But don’t blame me if your hands fall off!” the girl stated as she resolved herself on focusing on the flying pest.

As Kenny focused on the two monsters before him, he could hear blasts coming from the wand in her hand as well as her shouting the word Slow. He wasn’t sure why she was yelling that. Maybe she thought yelling the word would make the creature move slower? He wasn’t sure. Desperate times make people do desperate things he thought.

As soon as the last Toxic Swamp Toad died he turned up to look at the girl hanging high up just in time to watch the Barb Mosquito get hit with a blast that shot out from her wand. The creature then dropped from the air like a sack of potatoes and landed in the water no longer moving.

His eyes fell upon the girl and took her in fully. She had long raven black hair that dangled past her head and piercing violet eyes. This stood out the most while also complimenting her fair white skin tone. She was slim with long legs that were wrapped in a laced style type of sandals that ran up just below her knees.

The gloves, shirt, and skirt she had on looked plain and were grey in color, which told him they were probably still the beginner equipment. She did have two rings that sat over the gloved fingers and a necklace that dangled around her neck on though. That told him those were probably the only equipment she had received so far.

The girl glared at him as she breathed heavily. “Are you just going to stand there and stare like a pervert? Get me down!”

The beauty he had taken in was suddenly replaced as he heard her words. He felt slightly annoyed for not getting a thank you for helping her, but he had to acquiesce that he probably did look like a pervert since she was hanging there trying to keep her skirt from falling and all he was doing was staring at her. It wasn’t his fault it had been a couple of days without any interactions with a person, female or not.

“My bad,” Kenny said as he calmed his own breathing while following where the vines ran down. He slowly trudged over to the end of the vines and started to saw them. He grabbed the vines with a free hand before finally cutting through the last one.

After he cut the vines, he slowly walked forward, bringing her down with each step. He didn’t want to rush so it wouldn’t jostle her around and scare her. However, after reaching three quarters of the way down the girl opened her mouth and said, “How long are you going to take? Can’t you go faster?”

Kenny judged the distance from where she now hung to the watery bottom. He then thought about how fast he could go and if she would be fine. His goal was to help her before touching the water so she wouldn’t get soaked. However, the next few words that came out of her mouth made him change his plan, “You are a pervert aren’t you? You just want to get a good look at me as you bring me down! Hurry up and get me down now!”

Kenny let out a sigh before explaining, “I’m not some damn pervert. I was trying to get you down slowly so I could help you before reaching the water, so you don’t…you know…get soaked. I don’t know how long you’ve been hanging there, but I’m sure you won’t be able to catch yourself before falling into the swamp water.”

The girl looked shocked as she heard what he had said. A look of embarrassment washed over her. She was about to apologize, but was stopped as Kenny added with a flat look, “However, since you want to come down faster, I will happily oblige, especially since you think I’m some damn pervert.”

Before the girl could protest, a surprise yelp escaped her lips as Kenny released his grip on the vines and allowed the girl to quickly fall into the swamp. Her body repositioned herself in time so she would fall onto her back and not on her head. After getting soaked by the swampy water, the girl pushed herself up into a sitting position and pointed a finger at Kenny.

“How dare you!” the girl shouted.

“How dare I what?” Kenny challenged. “I did as you asked. I got you down faster. It’s not my fault you were too impatient to understand why I was going so slow.”

The girl glared at him but didn’t say a word. It looked like she understood how right he was. Kenny fought to keep the smile that wanted to come from taking form. He understood that it wouldn’t be nice to give her a smirk telling her he knew he won the argument. If there was one thing he had learned from his stepmother and little sister, girls can keep a grudge against you when it came to stuff like that.

He didn’t have to fight it for long because a frown formed shortly as he stared at the girl sitting in front of him. There was something off about her but he couldn’t place a finger on it. Wanting to know what it was he decided to ask questions.

“Where is your team?” Kenny asked as he looked around the area. He looked back at her as he heard a scoff escape her lips.

“They decided their own progress was more important than helping me with mine,” the girl said with a displeased expression. She then muttered to herself as she glared at the water, “Not like they’re the ones with only one awakened Skill Tree.” She then looked back at Kenny and asked, “What about you? Did you rush here hoping to play the hero leaving your teammates behind?”

Kenny stared at her. With a sigh he said, “No. I don’t have a team.”

“You too huh?” the girl nodded with a saddened expression. “Did they part ways with you back at the portal in the boss room of the last area like mine?”

Kenny shook his head. He was about to answer the question, but then stopped as he realized she was still sitting in the swamp water. With a raised brow he asked, “Before I answer that, I have to ask…Are you enjoying sitting there in the water?”

The girl looked down and noticed she was, in fact, still sitting in the sludgy muddy swamp water. With an embarrassed expression, she let out a squeak before scrambling to her feet. However, as she got up she let out a pained gasp before starting to fall forward.

Kenny swiftly reached out and held her up, stopping her from falling face first into the water again. As he stood by her he finally understood what it was that seemed off. He had thought she was shorter than him when he saw her hanging up there, but now that she was right in front of him slightly hunched over he now saw that she was taller than him. While he stood at around five foot eight, this fair-skinned, raven-haired, violet eyed beauty was probably around six feet tall.

Well, no wonder she seemed so on edge. Most tall beauties feel like anyone shorter than them are usually ogling them. At least that’s what most of the taller girls back at school would say when they complained when a shorter guy tried asking them out. Kenny thought before mentally shrugging. Never really understood the prejudice taller girls had against shorter guys and the other way around. If you liked someone, why can’t you just like them?

Kenny was taken out of his thoughts as he felt the girl position herself to look at him. She had a slight pained look as she said, “I think I might have sprained or twisted my ankle a bit when I was violently flung into the air by that vine. I guess my Endurance wasn’t high enough to prevent that.”

Kenny nodded. “That makes sense. Do you need help getting to a safe spot to rest up until it goes away? There’s one not too far from here. I just left it not too long ago.”

The girl stared at Kenny for a long moment. She looked like she was contemplating what he had just asked. From the way her facial expressions went, Kenny believed she wasn’t sure if he was being friendly or had ulterior motives. Kenny let out a sigh as he explained, “I don’t have any hidden agenda and will leave after getting you to the safe spot if you want me to. I know firsthand that when someone doesn’t want you there you shouldn’t stay there.”

The girl continued to stare at him for an even longer moment. When Kenny thought she wasn’t going to speak, she finally opened her mouth and asked, “You would? Leave if I asked you to I mean.”

“If that’s what you wanted then yeah,” Kenny answered.

“Okay,” the girl said with both a surprised and cautious look on her face. She then shifted herself to place an arm around his shoulder to ease the pain on her ankle and hopped to try and move forward.

After taking a minute to get the small distance they did, Kenny came to a stop. The girl, confused, turned to look at Kenny, but before she could say anything Kenny started unwrapping his hand wraps. As he did this she asked, “What are you doing?”

Kenny didn’t say anything until he placed his hand wraps into his pack then rushed over to a tree and hung it on a branch closer to them then rushed back to her and turned his back and bent his knees while saying, “This is going to take too long. Hop on my back and I’ll carry you there.”

The girl’s eyes widened. She started to protest that he didn’t need to do that, but Kenny countered, “Look, if we continue moving the way we are then a lot of time will pass. Not only that, but the healing that your ankle needs will continue to be delayed if you keep putting pressure on it. Me carrying you to the spot will get us there faster. We don’t have a lot of time to waste at the moment. Don’t you agree?”

The girl thought over his words carefully. She looked like she agreed with what he had said, but she also had that look like something was bothering her. He wasn’t sure what it was that made her make that face, but he didn’t have to wait long to find out. With a blend of conflicting emotions Kenny wasn’t able to figure out, she asked shyly, “Are you sure you could do that? I mean…wouldn’t I be too heavy?”

Kenny stared at her blankly. Out of all the things she could have said, this was something he didn’t expect nor was prepared for. He knew it wouldn’t be an issue, but after seeing the blend of conflicting emotions that heated her face he understood this must be something she had come across before coming here. Did a guy or guys really tell her she was too heavy for them to carry her? Her? A slim girl?

He noticed her cheeks started to flush a bit redder the longer he remained silent. Without thinking he swiftly said, “Sweetie, I may be shorter than you but that doesn’t mean I am weaker than you.”

The cringe on the girl’s face that formed right as he said it made him wince. The words she said next made him cringe internally as well. “Don’t call me sweetie. I’m not your sweetie and it sounds even weirder coming from you.”

  Kenny let out a sigh as he replied truthfully, “Yeah, I cringed inside after hearing myself say it. Although! In my defense I panicked when I saw you looking embarrassed.”

After a long moment of silence, the girl started to giggle. The sound of that giggle stirred something inside Kenny. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but he felt his tense body relax a bit. After she finished giggling, she looked at Kenny and said, “Alright. I’ll take the offer.”

Kenny gave her a smile as he turned back around and bent his knees low enough for her to hop on his back without any issues. As he wrapped his arms around her long slender legs, he felt them dangling from the middle of his sides down to almost his knees. He then felt her lean forward and wrap her arms around his upper chest and neck area. He then felt her moderate-sized breasts gently press against his back and fought the urge to allow the nice sensation to rush towards a different area of his own body that could create complications.

Instead, he focused on what needed to be done. Before they started for the safe area, he asked, “Will you be able to hold on to my pack and your own as we make our way over?”

The girl looked over at the pack that was hanging on the branch. She was reluctant since it had gotten wet after Kenny had thrown it off of him before fighting the monsters and was dripping with swamp water. She then thought about her own pack. It was completely soaked as well, making her not caring about the situation anymore. “I can try. Bring me over to it.”

Kenny walked over to the pack and turned around so she could place the larger pack on her back. After situating both his and her packs he started walking. After a couple minutes of silence, Kenny heard her say, “Valerie.”

“Huh?” Kenny asked, slightly confused.

“My name. It’s Valerie. But you can call me Val,” Val explained.

Kenny slimed. He wasn’t expecting that. “Kenneth. But you can call me Kenny.”